Fifty Shades of Greg
by Djsoresupon3
Summary: That title... it's pretty misleading. But this is the story of Greg. A male Sylveon who's an outlaw. But he hasn't done anything wrong and blames his problems on how society treats him. But this is a story of how much a person can take before something snaps. Kind of psychological, but not really.
1. (Just Like) Starting Over

Chapter 1: (Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon

 **Fuck yeah, some John Lennon to open a story. So this is me, djsoresupon3 again, with my last new story. Honestly guys, this is the last one… for a while… probably… maybe. Anyways, so a brief summary of how this story was created was simply while I was browsing , I noticed that Sylveon was rather lacking in depth of all the stories I found. And also that most of them featured female Sylveons… even though the gender ratio is 87.5% male to 12.5% female. AND, none of these stories really seem to touch up on how life with the ability Cute Charm would be. I mean, if people could fall in love just by touching you, who the fuck would even begin to trust you? This story is set in a PMD country with my made up towns and people. Anyways, this is a long author's note so let's just jump into the story.**

The streets were bustling in Chance Town's center. Most foreigners were confused by a name like Chance Town, but it was a fitting name as many adventurers and exploration teams started here. There were three big guilds located in this city and they all offered a little something for everyone. But we're not here to for the guilds. We're here to follow this cloaked figure that has been watching the Job Bulletin Board for quite some time. From the outline, you could easily guess that it was some quadruped. It was watching from quite a distance and no one was taking notice of it. Suddenly it moved with purpose, diving between people on the street and weaving through the crowd until it arrived at the board. However, it skipped the request section and went straight towards the outlaw section. It quickly scanned it before swiping a paper and disappearing back into the crowd. The cloaked figure walked to the outskirts of town and didn't stop there and kept going until it had entered Sohn Forest. It found a creek and stopped to sit on its haunches, slightly panting from the pace that it had been walking.

It took out the paper that it had swiped from the outlaw board and unraveled it. It depicted a Sylveon with a sinister smirk on its face. It had a bounty of 10,000, which wasn't exactly a high amount for an outlaw. But the interesting thing was the danger level. It had two rankings, a C ranking for males and an A ranking for females. The cloaked figure raised a paw and lowered its hood, revealing a Sylveon. Its ribbons were wrapped around it's neck like a scarf but came undone once it took off its hood. The Sylveon went back to studying the paper. It read the list of crimes listed 11 counts of disturbing the public, five counts of harassment and one attempted rape all with continuous evasion of exploration teams. It lowered the paper to stare at its reflection in the creek before looking at the illustration of the Sylveon. It frowned before using its ribbons to rip apart the paper.

"You know that is property of the Exploration Committee, which is considered a crime?" A voice said behind the Sylveon. It whirled around in surprise to see a Bagon and a Seviper behind it. The Bagon had spoken and it was identifiable as a male.

"But for sssssuch a pretty girl, we might be able to… lessssssen the penalty", the Seviper said, smirking. The Seviper was also male. This caused the Sylveon to frown again and sigh.

"Well I'm not a girl", the Sylveon spoke in a voice that was maybe higher than a usual guy's voice… but it was still undoubtedly a guy's voice. This caught both the Bagon and Seviper by surprise.

"Wait… that's a guy?" The Bagon asked the Seviper. The Seviper seemed to do its equivalent of shrugging its shoulders. Suddenly a look of realization was plastered on their faces. "Wait! You're the outlaw Greg aren't you?!"

"My name is Greg, but I am no outlaw", the Sylveon replied, scowling.

"So you're saying that you just happen to be a male Sylveon with the same stupid name?" The Bagon asked. Greg's eye twitched a bit.

"Why does everyone say my name is stupid? I like my name and I don't see anything wrong with it. And I'm not an outlaw because I haven't done anything wrong", he said. The Seviper hissed at him.

"Yeah right!" The Seviper yelled before lunging with a Poison Tail. The move easily sliced through the fabric of the cloak, but the one who inhabited it was gone.

"Behind you!" The Bagon shouted, but it was too late as the Seviper was tackled from behind. Greg then turned to face the Bagon. Now that he didn't have the cloak on, the bag that was slung around his body was clearly visible. "H-How did you move so fast?"

"Well it's not really that I'm fast, it's just that the both of you are pretty slow", he replied. This clearly ticked off the Bagon.

"Dragon Breath!" He yelled before breathing out flames straight at Greg. Greg stood there in confusion. Everyone knew, especially dragons, that dragon moves couldn't hurt Fairy types. So Greg didn't move as the attack neared, but at the last moment he dived away. He looked back to see the area where he had been was completely scorched.

"What… was that?" He asked himself. He turned back to the Bagon. That move definitely seemed like it could have hurt him. The Bagon wore a very serious expression on his face.

"Tch. He saw through it", the Bagon said. The Bagon then shot another stream of flames at Greg. Greg jumped up and dodged these flames to meet another stream. He narrowly dodged these only to see a third stream of flames. It took everything Greg had to dodge it, but mid-dodge he sensed that the third flame was different from the first two. He didn't have time to reason as the Bagon had closed the distance between them in the short time.

"Headbutt!" The Bagon yelled. Greg didn't have time to move so he was sent flying. Despite being fairly slow, the Bagon was still powerful. Greg got up quickly though and stared at his opponent, until he remembered about the Seviper. He looked all around him but still couldn't see the Seviper. He felt the ground beneath him shift and he instinctively dived. A Seviper's tail burst through where he had once been. He stopped focusing on it as he saw the Bagon was closing the distance. The Bagon stopped though and shot a stream of fire at Greg. Greg quickly identified these as the flames that would hurt him and decided his only escape route was up. He jumped high into the air, only to have the Seviper shoot out of the ground like a projectile. As the Seviper flew at him, Greg understood that he had to get serious. He calmly inhaled and exhaled.

Small blue orbs formed around Greg and flew at the Seviper. Having no way to dodge, the Seviper prepared itself for the attack. The blue orbs met their target and the Seviper landed with a heavy thud, not getting back up. The Bagon stood shocked as Greg landed back on the ground gracefully.

"What was that?" The Bagon asked.

"Psyshock… though I held back so I don't know why he was knocked out… maybe he landed on his head and that did it?" Greg mused. The Bagon grew furious and launched himself in a headbutt at Greg. However, the Sylveon's ribbons wrapped around it and held him in place. The Bagon struggled in Greg's grip but found himself unable to break free. Slowly, the Bagon fought less and less before stopping completely. Greg took this opportunity to use one of his ribbons to pinch a nerve where he hoped was on a Bagon which made the Bagon lose conscious. Greg thanked that the nerve was easy to find, especially on bipedals. He took the Bagon and laid him against a tree. He then went over to the Seviper and dragged him over to the tree. He laid him down in what he assumed was a comfortable position for snakes. He then went over to his cloak, only to find it completely sliced in half. He sighed and made a mental note to either buy a new one or find someone who would repair it. He stuffed it into his bag and walked away from the scene. He pulled out a map and decided to head west into the Daunk Wastelands. Which weren't actually wastelands, just a desertish terrain with several bandit towns. Yes, bandit towns. Whole towns full of bandits and outlaws alike. There were even 'bandit guilds', which was just a bunch of bandits gathering around a really strong bandit for protection. They weren't peaceful places. They were suicide nests for exploration teams and only crazy civilians would even try to go through them. But Greg was an outlaw so he didn't have much to worry about… even though he wasn't well liked. There was going to be someone there who would either help him or sell to him. The merchants in the bandit towns were the best. As long as you had the money, they sold without discrimination. Greg checked the sun's position and headed off west. The journey would at least take a day.

As he travelled through, his thoughts drifted to the exploration team he encountered. At least, all of the signs pointed to that. Their combat skills were definitely above average to be civilians. And their teamwork together suggested that they at least had some training together. Their moves suggested that they didn't learn them all naturally as the Seviper knew Dig. Also there was the Bagon. Greg deduced that it had been using two different moves. One was Dragon Breath while the other was probably Flamethrower, which it couldn't learn naturally. Greg wondered if they were part of the Draco Guild that was oriented in Chance Town. Like the name implied, it was a more Dragon-oriented guild. Anyone could join but since the Guild Master was a Salamence, it specialized in training Dragon types. Greg shivered at the thought of the stories he had heard about that Salamence. He had even been nicknamed the Fairy Killer because he had a flawless catching percentage against Fairies. Greg didn't know if the Salamence had ever actually killed a fairy... but the stories he had heard made him sound like a savage.

He began noticing that the trees were thinning out. He found a creek and walked up to while using a ribbon to dig around his bag until he fished out a canteen. He judged that the creek's water was fast enough to at least not be harbouring billions of bacterium. He dipped his canteen in and brought it back up and poured the water out, trying to see if there was anything visible in the water. After experimenting several times, he concluded that the water was safe enough to take a risk on. He left the creek behind to advance towards the Wastelands. Ah, this would be a good chance to look into the past of our protagonist, wouldn't it?

As you can all tell by now, Greg is a male Sylveon. He is 22 years old and living life to the fullest… well maybe not quite so much. Greg was raised in a family with three sisters. However, while he was young, his parents died. Greg's sisters never explained to him how or why they died, but they vowed to take care of him in their place. His eldest sister is Phayara, obviously a Flareon. She's hyperactive and constantly teased Greg about his non-existent love life. The middle sister is Elektric, obviously a Jolteon. Surprisingly, she's the most calm of the group and the most responsible and the reason why they all survived really. The youngest sister, but older than Greg, is Ruwa the Vaporeon. She helped settle disputes and kept the family together. All in all, Greg had a fairly normal upbringing and grew up without a problem. That is, until he was 16. He evolved fairly late for an Eevee, but evolved into a Sylveon. Of course, many people know that an Eevee evolves into Sylveon through affection and knowing a fairy type move. Greg knew Baby-Doll Eyes as a way to beg to his sisters. Now that only leaves the question of his affection. Being around his sisters non-stop led to some… rather controversial feelings. Greg didn't know though that the feelings that he began harbouring as an Eevee were unnatural or considered wrong. So after he evolved, and with a rather unanimous decision, his sisters agreed that it would be best for Greg to leave home and travel. So at the age of 16, Greg left home and ventured out into the world with high hopes. The world however, was much different than his sisters had described. For two years, Greg went around and was constantly shunned. The public did not take kindly to a 'male disguising himself as a girl to prey on girls'. Nothing major had happened for the two years. But then one day while in Sebu City, Greg got involved in something he'd regret for the rest of his life. He still isn't sure what happened that day. But one moment while out on a nightly walk, a girl collided with him, a guard (specialized members of guilds who specialize in keeping the locals safe) came around to ask what happened, she accused him of rape and he became a criminal. Of course in his panic, he resisted arrest and escaped the local authorities. Here we are, 4 years later and each mishap and misunderstanding has lead to a small increase in his bounty. The majority of his bounty is made up from the attempted rape that he had been accused of while the rest was mostly from his continuous evasion of exploration teams. Nowadays, Greg could hardly ever be seen smiling and always traveled wearing a cloak in public. Oh, you're probably wondering who I am and why I know so much about Greg. Well don't worry, I'm not important to this story. Hey, look, Greg's arrived at the bandit town.

Greg stood at the outskirts of the bandit town and finished off the rest of the water that had been in his canteen. He stomached the slightly off taste but he was thankful that so far he hadn't gotten sick. Normally, a person would be exhausted from a day's journey, but Greg was used to it. He just needed to eat, but it was early in the morning and no place would probably be open. He checked the signs on the outskirts of town and confirmed that this was the town that was inhabited by a very powerful Aggron. His bounty was even up to 2,000,000. But Greg wasn't interested in that. He just needed to find someone who would give him temporary residence. He strolled through town and searched the many buildings that were built. He found an inn and thanked Arceus that it was open. He walked in and there was a Pidove at the counter.

"Well howdy there girly, what can I do ya for?" The Pidove asked, it was a girl and seemed even younger than Greg. He was put off by being called 'girly' as an actual noun.

"I'd like a room please, just for one night", he said in a falsetto and putting on a bright smile. If he imitated a girl's voice he could foul most guys and girls usual took a while to figure it out… plus he usually got cheaper prices.

"One night for a room? That'll be 1,500", she said. He nodded and pulled out a smaller bag from his travel bag. He used a ribbon to pull out the needed amount from the bag. Unknownst to the Pidove though, the money was stolen. Money was quite pivotal in today's society and there were only two ways to get it. You either worked for it and earned it, or you worked and stole it. Having ribbons that pacified anyone really came in useful when stealing. She took the bits and gave Greg a key. He thanked her, took the keys and left to go to his room. He found it quickly and entered. There was a hallway that with two doors. He investigated and saw that one door was a small closet and the other led to a bathroom. The hallway ended in a bedroom with a single queen sized bed. He set his bag on the side of the lone nightstand and laid in the bed. He closed his eyes and his body began unwinding. His mind began drifting off into darkness until something shook him. Actually, it was more like something shook the building. His eyes opened and the building shook again. He groaned and got up and looked outside. All was quiet until an explosion blew up a few blocks down. Greg stared at where it happened.

"I really shouldn't", he said. "It's not my business or anything."

His door broke down, startling him to squeak. But it was a manly squeak mind you. Very manly. A Skiddo was at the door, breathing heavily. Greg waited for it to catch its breath.

"There's an Exploration Team wreaking havoc!" He unnecessarily shouted at Greg.

"An Exploration Team? Here in town?" Greg asked. The Skiddo nodded frantically.

"They're a Master Rank team!" He shouted before bolting away. Greg's eyes widened in shock. Master Rank Exploration Teams were not a group that you wanted to meet. He walked over to his bag and opened it. His ribbon grabbed hold of something that he wish he didn't have to grab, but he was worried about that Exploration Team. He brought out the Special Band he had stolen… okay he steals a lot, let's just get that out of the way. He put it onto his left foreleg. He left the room with his bag in tow and bolted out of the inn. He didn't make it down the block before a building blew up in front of him. A big object flew and crashed only a few feet in front of him, causing him to fall back in surprise. When the dust settled, Greg saw the hulking figure of an Aggron unconscious.

"Oh… that can not be good", Greg muttered. He was about to go around the Aggron but two figures stood in his way. A Blaziken and a Lopunny stood in his way. He quickly spun around but a Medicham stood in his way.

"Well girls, it looks like we have another runner", the Medicham spoke. It was a female and by the way she addressed the others, Greg guessed that the other two were girls. Greg had to steady his breathing and began breathing in and out in timed intervals. This didn't escape the Medicham. "What's the matter? You scared, girl?"

"... I'm not a girl", Greg stated for Arceus knows how many times. This surprised the Medicham.

"Oh, so you must be Greg the Sylveon", she deduced. This took Greg by surprise. "Taking in both the Aggron and you who's been singlehandedly out running the Exploration Committee for the past four years will get us quite the recognition."

By the time she finished, Greg had steadied his breathing.

"If you're going to take me in, there's kind of a problem", He said as he began lightly trotting in place. In all honestly, it looked pretty cute.

"And what would that be?" The Medicham asked.

"Well you're all girls", Greg stated.

"... And?" The Blaziken behind me asked.

"Well my ability is Cute Charm, which causes infatuation upon physical contact. And you're all physical fighters so you're at quite a disadvantage", he said, glancing at all three of them. However, they all began laughing.

"So? We're Master Rank team. We can still fight and take you done while avoiding touching you", the Lopunny said. Then as if to prove a point, she began glowing and then her form changed. Greg had heard of Mega Evolution but he'd never seen it in person.

"Oh? That's where you're all mistaken", Greg said, finishing his trotting. "The problem isn't you avoiding touching me-"

They all suddenly jumped away from Greg as his ribbons had somehow snuck through their attention and stroked their faces.

"It's keeping me from touching you."

 **Phew, that was a type. I hope you all enjoyed this little prologue of Greg. Also a rather unusual narration for me so sorry if it's really weird. And if you like his character now, or if you even hate it, it's going to change. That's why this story's title is both a simple parody and also fitting to the kind of 'theme' of the story. The transformation that Greg goes through as the story develops will be extremely noticeable. Anyways please review and favorite/follow or whatever it is if you enjoyed this. And if you didn't then leave a review or PM me why you didn't like it. I'm always open to change.**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out**

 **Next update: Being the 'Hero'**


	2. A Beautiful Mine

A Beautiful Mine by RJD2

 **So here we are with chapter 2! Sorry it's been… a year. Wow. That is… that's sad. Especially considering I've had most of this chapter done for most of that year. I'd like to say that I was super busy, but I pretty much wasn't. Anyway, I'm sure y'all just want to read instead of me trying to find excuses so let's just start. Oh, thanks to joycewu333 and SoloAcrobat6 for the favorite/follow.**

Greg analyzed his three opponents: the Medicham was obviously a Fighting type, which gave him an advantage over her. He'd have to watch out though for her dual Psychic type which opened her arsenal to both physical and special moves. The Blaziken was also a Fighting type, but her dual Fire type negated the advantage over her. She probably had more of a physical approach then the Medicham, but still could have a ranged move in her moveset to surprise anyone. Then there was the now-Mega Evolved Lopunny. He'd remember hearing once that some Pokemon went through a type change, or maybe it was that they had another type added on when they Mega Evolved. He had no way of proving this though and hoped that the Lopunny followed the rest of her teammates with a second type of Fighting. The one thing Greg was glad was that they were mostly physical fighters and that they were female. With his ability, they would have to avoid physi-

Greg's train of thought was broken as his ribbons flew up in front of his face to block the incoming Lopunny fist. His ribbons blocked it, but the sheer power and ferocity in the punch sent him flying through the air. Even his bag flew off to some location as he was airborne. He flew above the Medicham and went crashing into the ground on his side, knocking the wind out of him. He rolled along the ground as he tried to gasp for air. When he finally stopped, he began coughing before getting air into his lungs again. He shakily got up and stared at his opponents. He couldn't believe the Lopunny would willingly get in contact with him. But he noticed something felt off. His ribbons. He looked down at them, now registering the pain from blocking that punch. The answer hit him like another punch. She never even punched him. The pain in his ribbons wasn't regionalized. It was the entire ribbon. She had stopped short of contact and used the energy from what he assumed, and rather hoped, to be a Mach Punch to create a concussive force that sent him flying.

"He's got pretty fast reactions," the Lopunny commented to her teammates in what sounded like surprise. Greg then realized the weight of the situation. They had just beat the strongest bandit in town. Sure they had a type advantage, but they didn't even look tired or hurt in the slightest. And he provoked them into a fight. He should have gone quietly. There was no way he could win against them… what had he been thinking? Was it too late?

"He might be a little fun to play with," the Blaziken joked. It was definitely too late. They were going to bring him down. He needed a way to esca-

He ducked under a punch, only to be met with a kick down below. He was sent flying again but timed his landing better. He landed on all fours and skidded along the ground. Escape was definitely out of the question. He'd never be able to outrun that Lopunny. She flew, which was really the best way Greg could describe what he saw, at him again. But he was ready this time and instead of blocking it, he jumped backwards while charging a move. The jump had barely given him the time to unleash his Hyper Voice when she got near. Greg was surprised though, by the power of it. He had never been in such a serious battle and had never actually fought with a Special Band on. But the effects were very noticeable. Greg watched as the Lopunny flew away from him. Hyper Voice was a move that Greg didn't use often nor had he ever used it at such a close range, but Greg was certain that the Lopunny shouldn't be bleeding out of her ears. It was there that Greg realized what he had done and he almost threw up. The Lopunny lay twitching on the ground, no longer in her Mega Evolved state, and was bleeding from the ears.

"Banni!" The Blaziken yelled as the Medicham rushed over to check on her.

"She's alive. It seems though that her inner ears has been damaged greatly," the Medicham spoke in a very calm voice. But the Blaziken was quite literally on fire from anger. Greg could feel the anger from where he was.

"I-I'm sor-" Greg tried to say, but had to stop when the Blaziken charged at him. He jumped back to avoid a heel smash Blaze Kick which destroyed the ground where he had been at. He couldn't settle though as she immediately launched herself again with a Fire Punch. He threw himself to the side as she, again, destroyed the ground where he had been at.

"Stop dodging!" She yelled, unleashing a massive Flamethrower. His instincts kicked in and he immediately countered with a Hyper Voice. The moves canceled each other out in a miniature explosion the kicked dust up, clouding both their views. However, after using Hyper Voice he had to breathe in. With a lungful of dust, his lungs were sent ablaze and he began coughing violently. It wasn't long before a Blaze Kick connected to his side and sent him rolling back towards the Medicham. He also heard something in his side snap and assumed he now had at least one broken rib. This did not help his cough as he struggled to get up, his coughing just causing more pain in his sides. One coughing fit caused such pain that he convulsed along the ground. His head hit something soft and he looked to see his bag. He crawled up and used his ribbons to start fishing through his bags but was distracted by a shadow.

"What do you think you're trying to do?" The Blaziken spoke. Greg didn't answer as his ribbon coiled around what he had been looking for. His relief was short lived as a clawed hand grasped the back of his neck and lifted him off the ground. The Blaziken turned him around so he was looking right into her blazing eyes. "I asked you a question."

Instead of answering, Greg began charging another Hyper Voice. The Blaziken quickly noticed this and threw him across the street. He cancelled his attack as he crashed through the entrance of some building. He landed in with a crash into something else, which did not help his side at all. In fact, now he was sure that his broken rib had punctured something. He shakily got up and looked around to see where he was. He almost laughed when he saw he was in a general store. He quickly found an Oran Berry and scarfed it down. It didn't take long for the sharp pain in his side to dull off a bit and his energy revitalized. He walked out of the store to face the Blaziken again, but he had a plan with his new item. He brought the item in front of him, catching the attention of the Blaziken. Greg could see her confusion as she stared at his new item. It was a second Special Band. He went to put it on his right foreleg.

"What are you doing? You can't put on two bands, the side effects could destroy you", she said. Greg noted that she didn't say it with concern, more like she was just questioning what he was doing. In fact, so was Greg. He was very unsure about doing this in an actual battle.

Let's do a little backstory behind the dangers of held items. Because while items like the Special Band boost or amplify power, it's not a free trade. There's usually a slight strain on the body if you were to wear an item like that for long periods of time. So, say you were to wear a Band all day, by the end of the day you'd feel very tired. If you slept with it on the same night, you'd wake up with a bad migraine, fatigue and strained muscles. What was discovered though was that if you were to wear another the amount of the amplification wasn't doubled, but exponentially increased. So were the negative drawbacks. What was almost 10 hours for fatigue to set in, turned into migraines after an hour. This may not sound like much of a problem, but those estimates are taking into the fact that you're healthy and not doing anything strenuous. So for Greg, who is already fairly injured and in a serious battle, logically the effects would not take long to set in. But what no one knows is that Greg had unwittingly trained his body to be able to handle the strain more effectively. Greg never knew that you weren't supposed to wear two held items at once, so he kept trying to despite the results. Sometimes, it got to the point where it caused internal damage. He eventually learned about the effects but decided to push himself to be able to wear two for long amounts of time, but never had he tested it in actual battle. But let's get back to the fight.

Greg put on the second band onto his right foreleg. He felt the power surge through him and he started faintly glowing. The pain in his side completely disappeared, but that didn't stop him from coughing up some blood. His vision fazed out a bit but it refocused and he felt fine to fight again. He looked up to the Blaziken and unleashed a Psyshock. When he used it normally, the amount of psychic orbs varied between 5 and 8. Now it looked to be close to 50. Greg found himself smiling at his new power. Why though, he couldn't quite place. The Blaziken tried to counter the Psyshock with a Flamethrower but was overpowered. She braced herself to take the attack, but was surprised when a barrier blocked the blue orbs. Greg recognized it as a Light Screen. He looked towards the Medicham whose eyes were glowing.

"Thanks Taci", the Blaziken said. The Medicham nodded and the Light Screen dispersed.

"I think it's some time for some teamwork, eh Kiphy?" The Medicham asked. The Blaziken, Kiphy, smirked and the both got into offensive positions. This didn't seem to alter Greg's mood in the slightest as he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"What kind of name is Kiphy?" He asked. Her eye twitched in response.

"I really don't want to hear that from someone named Greg", she said. Greg smiled.

"Fair point", he casually said, before releasing a spontaneous Hyper Voice. This caught both girls by surprise and they had to jump to the side to avoid the soundwave. The building behind them, was not so fortunate and was completely leveled. Greg laughed at his new power, though that lead to some more blood being coughed up. He'd have to finish this fight soon. He unleashed another Psyshock at both of them, but the Medicham put up a Light Screen for the two of them and blocked the attack. Greg would need to take her out first.

He took off towards her, unleashing a third Psyshock targeting both of them. The Medicham put up a Light Screen for them both and realized Greg's plan. She dropped the Light Screen and charged Greg. She charged an Ice Punch in both fists and Greg fired off a Shadow Ball. Instead of putting up a Light Screen, she deflected with her Ice Punch. Greg entered striking distance for the Medicham and she reacted immediately, going for his face. He used two of his ribbons to parry the first punch and jumped upwards to avoid the second punch. As he jumped upwards over the Medicham, he coiled a ribbon around her neck and slammed her to the ground. He turned around to attack her, but got distracted by something in his peripheral vision. He jumped back and barely avoided a Fire Punch.

"Forget about me?" The Blaziken asked. Before he could reply, a fit of coughs caused Greg to spit out more blood. He knew his time was running out and he'd either need to finish this fight now or he'd be imprisoned. He briefly studied his surroundings and formulated a simple plan that would hopefully be enough.

He unleashed another overpowered Psyshock which flew at both the Blaziken and the recovering Medicham. Realizing that she couldn't evade it, the Medicham threw up another Light Screen over the both of them. However, the onslaught of the attack overwhelmed her weakened shields and scored a few hits on both of them. The following explosion clouded the area with smoke.

While Greg had newfound confidence in his strength, he was still sure that they weren't down for the count. But Greg could change that. He ran so he was parallel with the street and was looking down it. As the smoke began dissipating, Greg began charging his final move. Despite that it was midday, the two Special Bands would make up for that and make his most destructive move, even more destructive. But if they found a way to evade it, he'd be done. He probably won't even be able to stand after using it.

As the ball of energy building in front of him grew, the smoke cleared enough to see his targets. They were still shakily getting up from the last attack, but still didn't look like they'd be done anytime soon. But Greg would change that.

Greg unleashed his Moonblast, the ball of pink energy flew the air, slicing through the smoke. They didn't even have enough time to put up a guard. The resulting explosion was far bigger than Greg could ever imagine. In fact, it was too big. The force of it knocked Greg off of his paws and sent him sailing through the air. But after using the last of his energy in the Moonblast, he couldn't even attempt to land in a less painful way. So, of course, he landed on his side. More blood spilled from his mouth as he rolled across the ground. He was left facing away from where the rescue team had been, but he was too tired to try and roll over.

Greg wasn't sure why, but he began laughing. Well, it was more of a mix between a laugh and a coughing fit. But he pulled off the Special Bands from his forelegs and set them down. He saw a figure stand above him, but he was too weak to look up to see who or what it was. So, he laughed himself into unconsciousness.

 **There we go! All done. So there are some things to take away from the chapter, but I'll let you figure that stuff out on your own. Again, unusual narration so sorry if it's weird. Next chapter will be after the battle and the possible negative consequences of Greg's actions. But you'll find out next time if you follow/favorite the story! But hopefully it won't be another year. That shit is not okay and I'm sorry. So leave a review and tell me what you thought of this fight please! I'd like to improve my writing.**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out!**


	3. Mask Off

Chapter 3: Mask Off by Future

 **Hey guys it's only been… another year since I updated?! GOD DAMMIT.** _ **Flips tables left and right**_ **. Well I done goofed guys. So let me just get right into this story because I've already wasted enough time.**

Greg's eyes fluttered open. He was in an unfamiliar room, laying on his back and on a very stiff bed. Was this jail? He turned his head, wincing as his muscles screamed in soreness, and observed the room he was in. It was a clay room with nothing but a counter and an opening that lead to a hallway. So not jail. Natural light filtered in through the hallway. Greg sighed as he tried to figure out what to do.

Just from an odd twitch of random limbs and ribbons, Greg could tell that the entirety of his body was gravely sore. He took a few quick breaths before rolling over onto his stomach. His mouth hung open as his sensory system was flooded with pain.

As the pain began to subside, he was surprised when a Krokorok walked in. The Krokorok seemed equally surprised to see Greg.

"You're up," the Krokorok stated, as if Greg wasn't aware of that fact.

"I am," Greg affirmed.

"How do you feel?" He, Greg easily guessed, asked.

"Everything hurts," Greg answered. The Krokorok nodded in understanding.

"Well you did fight a Master Rank Exploration Team while wearing two Special Bands. The fact that your conscious, even alive, is a miracle itself," the Krokorok admitted. Greg realized that despite the soreness he felt everywhere, he should be in much more pain considering what had happened. He looked down at his body and saw some crude wrappings wound tightly around his midsection. He recalled breaking several ribs. One of which probably punctured a lung.

"Though… I do feel surprisingly well despite the injuries I received," Greg said. The Krokorok grinned widely.

"Well, not to brag, but I am a bit of a miracle worker," he boasted, sticking out his chest in pride.

"You must be. Well, thanks…" Greg trailed off, hoping the Krokorok would give him his name.

"The name's Clifton. Though, everyone just calls me Cliff," he added, doing a two-claw salute.

"Well thank you Doctor Cliff."

"Woah, slow down there," Cliff said, raising his claws defensively. "I ain't no doctor. Don't have any medical training whatsoever, but I got what you could call "field experience". Hey! Wanna see all the tools I used for your surgery?"

Greg's face crinkled in discomfort.

"Um, I'd rather not," he said, watching Cliff leave. Greg sighed, and then a few moments later, before Cliff entered the room backwards, pulling a cart with him. Greg paled as he viewed the objects on the cart.

There were three, very crusty and very bloody, rags. Next to those was a wicked looking knife, which looked like it was made from fangs. It was very menacing. Next to that was... a bamboo shoot? How had that been used in surgery? The last object was a weird, dirty white object that almost looked like…

"What is that?!" Greg shouted, pointing on of his feelers at the object. Cliff grinned and picked it up.

"This is the nasty little thing that was in your lung," he said, displaying it to Greg. Greg looked from it to his wrapped side.

"That's… that's my…" Greg suddenly felt very nauseous.

"Okay, too much," Cliff said, confusing Greg. "I'm just joking! This ain't yours."

"Wha?" Was all Greg could get out.

"Yeah, see?" Cliff said, putting the rib up to Greg's side. "Much too big to be yours."

"Oh… okay," Greg said, recovering from his nauseating spell. "Wait, but that's real?"

"Of course, I actually got it from," Cliff paused to think. He even tapped the rib against his snout lightly. "Huh. Can't remember actually. Oh well. Still fun to scare patients with."

He tossed the rib back onto the cart. Greg looked at the other items on the cart. They were probably-

"They're real," Cliff said, interrupting Greg's thoughts.

"What's real?"

"These," Cliff answered, picking up the knife. Greg didn't need a demonstration to see if it was real. "Fashioned it out of my own fangs!"

"That doesn't sound sterile. At all," Greg stated. Cliff cocked his head.

"Sterile?" He asked, confusion written on his face. Greg sweatdropped and let out a nervous laugh. Cliff suddenly grinned. "I'm just kiddin'! All my tools are as clean as a… well, they're clean."

Greg didn't feel much more relieved but he smiled back. Then his gaze went to the last item. Cliff followed his gaze and picked up the bamboo shoot.

"You know, I don't get to use this very often," he said, almost reminiscently. Greg really didn't want to know the det- "You see, when you puncture a lung, the air that goes in it, can escape. Now, when the wound is entirely internal, it has nowhere to go. So it gets trapped in the chest cavity. Very dangerous. However, take this little guy, stab it in, and the air has somewhere to go outside the body!"

That was rather… terrifying to be honest. The real scary part was that Cliff seemed to actually make it work. But still…

"So I, uh, guess that explains… that. But how did I heal so quickly? Unless I've been out for a long time," Greg asked.

"No, you've only been out for a day and a half," Cliff answered before sighing. "As for why you've healed so fast…"

He walked out to the hallway and looked down both ways before trudging off. There were several moments of silence before Cliff's voice roared through the building, startling Greg.

"FIDEL! What the hell do you think you're doing?! I told you to sweep, not sleep!" He yelled. He then heard another voice, to which Cliff responded to much more quietly. They talked briefly before he heard Cliff walk back. His footsteps were followed by… nothing?

Cliff came back in, grinning. After he entered, a pokemon came in that Greg had never seen before. It was blue and some kind of… deformed Kingler or something. It was a little small though. What drew Greg's attention however, was the absolutely massive claw it had. Its other claw was equally tiny as the rest of its body. Greg then realized why he had heard no sound when it came in. It was floating… some kind of psychic type?

"This here's Fidel! He's my assistant, essentially," Cliff explained.

"And he's why I healed quickly?" Greg asked. Cliff nodded in reply.

"Yeah, you see Clawitzers are quite famous for their destructive capabilities," he said. "Their well known for all the offensive and long-ranged moves they can learn. But this little guy? He knows Heal Pulse. Normally, finding a healing or defensive move on a bandit would be like trying to find an Oran Berry in the ocean. Once I heard this guy rolled into town, I knew I had to employ him to help me!"

"Oh! Uh, I need to pay for your services right?" Greg asked. This was a bandit town, nothing was free. He looked around the room again. "Where's my bag?"

"Your bag? Ah, right… you're gonna have to go talk to the big man himself if you want it back," Cliff answered. Greg's eyes widened. He'd need to go meet the biggest outlaw in town? That sounded like it would end up in a second trip back here. "And don't worry about paying me. Though, there is one thing you could do for me…"

"Anything," Greg said, happy to repay him somehow. Suddenly, Greg thought the pressure in the room increased so much that his ears popped.

"Get the fuck out of my clinic," Cliff answered with a cold glare that barely hid the animosity in his words. Greg froze, unsure of what had caused the sudden shift. "Now."

The one word sprung Greg into action as he jumped down from the bed, wincing as a jolt of pain ran through his sides. He didn't say anything as he left, scared that would trigger the Krokorok's rage. He chose a random direction and left. He noticed that the Clawitzer, Fidel, was following him. Greg noted that he was constantly in line with his giant claw.

"Did I… do anything wrong?" Greg asked him.

"You were born," Fidel answered in a raspy voice. Greg decided to find the exit in silence.

He eventually exited the building and had to ask around on where to find the Aggron who, essentially, ran the town. The various directions led him to a small makeshift stadium. He heard shouts from inside and entered to a brutal scene. There was a makeshift platform, which was currently occupied by an Aggron and a Houndoom, encircled by stands where several pokemon sat. What caught Greg's eye though, was the 20-30 pokemon sprawled all around the platform. All of whom were, at least Greg hoped, unconscious.

Greg's attention was diverted back to the stage as the Aggron smashed the platform with the Houndoom leaping out of his reach.

"You've gotten slow Pancel!" The Houndoom said as he landed safely. "Had I known this before I would have challenged you earlier. Then this town would be mine!"

"Good to see some things like your arrogant attitude never change," the Aggron, Pancel, grumbled back. The Houndoom replied by releasing a stream of fire at the Aggron. Pancel coated himself in energy and then charged straight through the fire. The Houndoom cut off his attack only to find the Aggron bearing down on him.

With a surprising bout of agility, the Aggron turned on his heel and smashed his tail into the Houndoom's side. Greg watched as the Houndoom practically flew across the platform. Pancel then slammed his hands onto the stage as the Houndoom struggled to get up. Suddenly, a rock burst from the platform, nearly clocking the Houndoom in the face. The Houndoom's eyes widened with fear and he rolled to the side as another rock burst from where he had been standing. As he got up, yet another stone burst out and embedded itself in his side, throwing his balance off. Then, two other stories burst out and knocked the Houndoom off the platform… he didn't get back up.

"Could always dish out attacks, but could never take 'em," Pancel said before glancing at all the other unconscious pokemon. "Maybe I overdid it today… Cliff's gonna have his work cut out for him."

Then, Pancel locked eyes with Greg, who froze.

"Sylveon," was all he said at first. There was a pause as both parties just stared at each other. Then, the Aggron pointed behind Greg. "Bring me an Oran Berry."

Greg looked behind him and saw a crude table with about four Oran Berries on it. He grabbed one with one of his ribbons and walked up onto the platform with the Aggron who grabbed it from him.

"So, you're the Sylveon who defeated that exploration team two days ago," Pancel stated before biting into the berry.

"Y-Yeah," Greg replied, now feeling the intimidation of the Aggron's figure.

"Huh… you really are a guy. That's kinda creepy," the Aggron said, causing Greg to sigh.

"I get that a lot."

"Got a name?"

"Yeah, Greg."

"Greg? Huh. Well my name's Pancel. Call me anything else and I'll kill you," Pancel threatened.

"W-Well it's nice to meet you, Pancel," Greg said.

"You're probably wondering what all this is," Pancel mused as he gestured around him.

"Uh… Just a bit," was all Greg said.

"Well, as is the way of us outlaws, we choose our leaders through the strongest. I've been running this town for just over a decade. And two days ago, an exploration team came to my town," Pancel grumbled, his tone turning bitter. "The Exploration Committee did their research well. Sent in a team that was both strong and had such an advantage over me… they toyed with me. In all my years, even when I was just a small Aron, I had never been tossed around like that. I was certain that my town would fall and I'd be taken in along with many others."

Then Pancel looked down at Greg.

"So imagine how, not only I, but everyone felt when word got around that some Sylveon outsider had defeated the entire team. My strength and leadership were called into question. And rightfully so. While I normally get a challenge maybe every month, after what happened two days ago… Well, you can see, I've gotten a lot. All I require is the simple task of being on the stage and bringing me an Oran Berry," Pancel said, putting the rest of the Oran Berry in his mouth. Greg's breath hitched and his eyes widened in fear. He had just been tricked. He was on the stage, he gave him an Oran Berry. It actually made sense why Pancel had done it.

"Anyway," Pancel said, snapping Greg out of his thoughts. Greg crouched down, preparing to dodge. "This is no place to talk and I'm sure you want your stuff. Follow me."

Greg was taken aback as he watched Pancel jumped off the platform. He didn't want to challenge Greg to prove his dominance to the other townspeople? He was about to follow, but a voice stopped both of them.

"Now just hold on a second!" The voice shouted from the stands. Greg turned around to see a Scrafty jump down onto the platform. "I thought you guys were going to fight, but all you did was talk! I still want a go!"

"Really? Gilbert, we both know you aren't going to win," Pancel sighed.

"You've been fighting all day so I know you're tired out and losing concentration! And how many times do I have to say to call me Gil?!" The Scrafty yelled. Pancel rolled his eyes before replying.

"I know you think it sounds cooler, but I assure you it's just as stupid."

"Just shut up and fight me!" Gil yelled. Greg then noticed that Pancel was staring at him. His gaze made him feel uncomfortable.

"You know what Gilbert? I'll make you a deal. Beat my friend here and you won't even have to fight me. I'll make you leader right here and now," Pancel said, now grinning. Though, Greg almost felt his eyes pop out of their sockets.

"Woah really? All I gotta do is beat this girl here? I'm in!" Gil shouted. Greg turned to face the Scrafty. Seriously? Was it so hard to identify him as a guy?

"Alrighty then," Greg heard Pancel say, noting that it sounded like he was holding back laughter. "Let's get this fight goin'!"

Greg hated his life.

 **Alright, next chapter we got another fight though it'll be much shorter. And good news! I'll be focusing on this story for a bit so it won't be another FREAKING YEAR till I update this story. I promise. So what do you think was up with Cliff? From friendly to gtfo real quick. Maybe he's got a hatred for sylveons. Maybe he's just an asshole. You might find out sometime during this story ;). And I'll see y'all the next time I update, which will probably be towards the end of the month.**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out!**


	4. Pretty Thoughts

Chapter 4: Pretty Thoughts by Alina Baraz & Galimantias

 **What is up people? Got another chapter here, fresh off the press. So watch the ink. Seriously, that stuff smudges and stains like no one's business. Anyway, after I updated the last chap, I realized I forgot to thank people! So I'll do that right now. Thank you Vixal, Vulpix199, Manrock456, bednoob12, NeonUmbreon and Tacosaucelord for the follows and favorites! Alrighty, ready to get into the chapter?**

Scrafties. What did Greg know about Scrafties? Admittedly… nothing. Not even type. But he was orange so… maybe ground or fighting type?

"If you wanna call the fight before I permanently damage your face, that's fine by me," the Scrafty said as the two squared off. He could certainly talk big, but then again, he was a bandit. Pancel hadn't seem too worried. Though, he was a leader of a bandit town so he had proved that he was the strongest already.

"I think I'll be alright," Greg replied.

"Woah what the fuck? You're a dude?" Gil asked. Greg sighed. "That's fucked up yo."

Greg responded with a Psyshock. The Scrafty was taken by surprise, but quickly recovered. In fact, he smiled and charged straight into the attack. Was he really that confident? Greg's question was answered as Gil simply ran through the attack. As Greg was surprised, the Scrafty was quickly upon him and he had to jump to avoid his attack. Greg narrowed his eyes as he squared off with the Scrafty once again.

"He took that attack with no problem. But something felt off," Greg muttered. "Could he be a dark type or is he just that bulky?"

"Ew, stop muttering to yourself. It's fucking creepy," Gil said. Instead of bothering with a reply, Greg charged a Moonblast. Without the actual moon, the charging time and power weren't ideal but it was usually good enough. He fired the Moonblast once it had reached an optimal point. "Oh fuck!"

Gil scrambled out of the way, causing a small smile to find its way on Greg's face.

"Dark type it is," Greg said before rushing the Scrafty. While he practically had no physical moves in his arsenal or any actual physical strength, he wasn't useless in close quarters. His feelers were great for immobilizing his enemies. He shot a ribbon at the Scrafty, trying to ensnare him. Gil evaded the ribbon, jumped away from a second ribbon and rolled to dodge a third before the fourth caught him mid-roll by the tail. Greg flung the Scrafty into the air. As he began descending, Greg was charging a Moonblast. The resulting explosion was accompanied by a crashing noise. The smoke quickly cleared, revealing a Scrafty amongst some of the unconscious fighters sprawled on the ground.

"Excellent!" Pancel exclaimed, startling Greg. "You are quite strong indeed. And I heard you fought the Exploration Team with two Special Bands on. No wonder your battle caused so much damage."

"Oh," Greg paled. "L-Look, I-I-I don't have th-that kind of m-money."

"Don't worry about it," the Aggron replied with a dismissive wave. Greg sighed in relief. In all honesty, he probably could have afforded it, he just really didn't want to. "Most of us are just happy not to be in custody after being raided by a Master Rank Exploration Team."

"Speaking of, what happened to them?" Greg asked, jumping off the platform to join Pancel as he began walking.

"Oh they're being taken care of," Pancel answered with a snort of amusement. A flash of concern crossed over Greg's features.

"A-Are you going to kill them?" He asked.

"Oh no," Pancel said with a chuckle. "But they'll wish we had."

That did nothing to placate Greg's worry. He did not want anything bad to happen to them since it would be his fault. He simply hadn't wanted to be captured, especially because he hadn't done anything wrong. Though, maybe he couldn't say that anymore.

"Who are they?" Greg asked.

"You haven't heard of them? They're Team Pop," the Aggron said.

"Oh, the name sounds familiar," Greg lied. He never had to worry about top Exploration Teams before.

"I'm not surprised. They're a Master Rank team from the Quinn City Guild. They rose to popularity due to their record in hunting down bandits and their looks. They're very good at what they do, whether it's bounties or marketing."

"And you think the EC sent them?"

"Oh yeah. It seems they want to start a war."

"W-War?"

"Yep. There's always been an unspoken pact between the EC and bandit towns that all towns and cities were off limits to attack. To think the EC would break it first. I'll need to meet with the leaders of the other bandit towns."

Greg paled at that. Were the bandits actually organized? It was a scary question. They stopped in front of a building were a lot of noise could be heard coming from inside.

"This is…" Pancel began before pausing, "Well, I guess it's like our version of a court."

He opened the doors and Greg was about to step in until a glass was sent flying at him and he had to duck out of the way. He stared at the scene within the 'court'. To put it plainly, it was mayhem. There were about 20-25 pokemon crammed into the room, all of whom seemed to be drinking, shouting profanities and hitting each other.

"A court?" Greg asked Pancel who rubbed the back of his head a little sheepishly.

"Court, slash, town hall, slash, communal party room. Any of those. Sometimes they're even meshed together," he admitted.

"I see…" Greg said.

"Anyway your stuff is in there if you wanna grab it," Pancel said before walking into the fray. A Rhydon crashed into him, but the Aggron hardly seemed bothered. Both stared at each other before breaking into celebrations. Which basically equated into beating each other up apparently. Greg sweatdropped. He crept in, before having to jump out of the way to avoid being flattened by an Abomasnow. He ventured further before realizing something.

"Wait, where's my stuff?" He asked out loud. "Pancel? Pancel!"

How the Aggron seemed to disappear was a mystery. He was so big, yet apparently blended seamlessly into a crowd. So Greg just kept looking around, trying his best to avoid being drawn into any fights or being hit on by drunk outlaws. Both would end equally bad. He came across a dark hall and followed it, getting away from the party and noise. He walked before being startled by a Marowak sitting at a desk, looking bored out of his mind. The desk was next to a set of stairs that led down into darkness.

"This ain't a place for-"

"Not a girl," Greg interrupted, knowing what the Marowak was going to say. The Marowak blinked before looking Greg up and down.

"Huh. Well what'cha doin' 'round these parts anyway?" He asked.

"I'm looking for my stuff, has Pancel said anything to you?" Greg asked back.

"Oh you're the Sylveon who saved the town!" The Marowak exclaimed. Greg smiled.

"It wasn't anything really, I was just trying to save myself to be completely honest," he admitted. The Marowak laughed at that.

"I think we all were. Anyway, your stuff's down there. As well as the… guests," he said, gesturing towards what really looked like a cellar. Greg's smile fell flat. He could easily guess that who the 'guests' were. He just really didn't want to have to see them again. "Take a torch down there with you, no lights so you won't be able to see."

"Alright, thanks," Greg said as he approached the top of the stairs and grabbed a torch that he now noticed lined the walls. When he began descending though, a smell hit his nostrils that made him gag. And it only got worse, the more he descended. The worse part was that he couldn't place what it smelled like. He suddenly had to fight back some rising bile as another wave of the stench hit him.

He reached the bottom, and quickly located his bags thanks to the illumination from the torch. Some breathing to his right, drew his attention. He knew what was there. He knew not to look. But he did. The regret was immediate, as was the bile that quickly rushed into his mouth. He turned and emptied out his stomach, which only had an Oran Berry in it really, out onto the floor. The stench suddenly made sense. Once again, he turned to look at the Master Rank Exploration Team.

They were chained to a wall, there arms raised above them. The Lopunny and the Medicham didn't even touch the ground. Though, the pain must have been light compared to what the bandits had done to them. Bruises and scratches littered their bodies, especially their faces. They were… almost unrecognizable. Deep cuts also racked their bodies. The wounds weren't even dressed and left to bleed out. Some still were. Which led to the puddle below them. But it wasn't just blood. There was a milky white substance mixed in there too. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was.

Greg dry-heaved suddenly. He retched, and retched again. He knew from Pancel's ominous wording that they were probably gonna do something bad. But this? This was straight out of a nightmare. No, a nightmare implied that he could've imagined this scenario. This was unconceivable. And he was at fault. This was all his fault. He shuddered before bolting out of the… dungeon.

"Woah there, you don't look so good. You feelin' okay?" The Marowak asked. Greg looked at him. Did he participate in what happened down there? Greg shouldn't have been so surprised. These were bandits, outlaws. Pokemon who hardly cared for laws or morals. He knew that. But this level… such a horrifying and monstrous event had never occurred to him. And… and he was one of them, whether he wanted to be or not. Greg left the party and traveled back to his motel room.

Greg couldn't sleep. It wasn't surprising. The image of those girls were burned into his eyes. No, it was burned into his mind. It wouldn't matter if his eyes were closed or not. Not only that, but the guilt was practically eating him alive. He couldn't stop thinking about how he had done that to them. He had to do something. No. He _needed_ to do something. And he would.

Greg found himself back in front of the court/town hall/whatever the fuck this was. Several hours had done wonders, considering the place was dead silent. In fact, practically the whole town was. A night of partying did that. He crept in and was surprised to see that almost every pokemon that had been here was now unconscious. That made things a bit more difficult. He snuck around the sleeping bodies, carefully moving on the pads of his paws.

He snuck down the hallway and was surprised to see the Marowak still awake. At least he was dutiful. But how was he supposed to get passed now? Well, plain and simple, he'd have to take out the Marowak. The guilt he'd feel over getting a person in trouble with their job and what had happened to those girls were not even comparable. A Psyshock later, led to an unconscious Marowak and very easy access to some keys.

He braced himself and descended into what was probably had been a cellar. He came once again in front of the girls and once again, had to hold back the bile from rising. He fumbled with his feelers and tried to unlock the cell. After getting that open, he came right up to the girls. He jumped when he noticed that the Lopunny was staring at him.

"H-Hello," Greg ventured. He was met with silence. "L-Look, I'm sorry about what's happened. I… I didn't want anything like this. But I'm here to set you all free."

And with that, he unlocked her chains, letting her drop to the ground. He convulsed slightly as he was splashed by the puddle of bodily fluids under her. He then set to freeing the others. The Medicham was awoken as she dropped but the Blaziken didn't even stir. The Lopunny and the Medicham seemed to share a glance, yet held a conversation. They both picked up the Blaziken around her arms and seemed to have trouble carrying her. Greg tried to offer a ribbon but had it slapped away by the Lopunny.

"Don't touch us. Just show us the way out," she rasped out. Greg nodded and frowned. So he led them out. Out of the cellar/dungeon. Out of the building. Out of the town. He watched them go. But…

But his guilt did not leave with them.

 **End of the month, end of the** _ **next**_ **month, what's the difference? Am I right? Right. Anyway, this is the chapter. I want this chapter to set the tone for the story. This isn't a happy go-lucky story. It's not necessarily dark though. But I wanted to take the "bandits/outlaws" of the PMD universe and give them a more…. immoral approach. They're not just thieves. They're legit criminals. Robbery, rape, murder. Nothing's really above them. And, they can be organized. Maybe not very organized, but even just a little bit can be quite frightening. Well, I'm done with this. Next chapter, coming out whenever. What will consequences of Greg's actions be? You know there will be some ;)**


	5. LOVE

Chapter 5: LOVE (FT. ZACARI) by Kendrick Lamar

 **Welcome to the next chapter, here we'll get to see the aftermath of Greg's little prison break. People to thank? Oh yes I do. I'd like to thank andreinishihara and sakurafox1218 for the follow and the favorite.**

Greg awoke to someone knocking on his door. He sat up tentatively. Was this it? Did they figure out that he had let the Exploration Team go somehow? Then again, he doubted that they would knock. He crawled out of his bed, if you could honestly call the small cot that, and opened the door. He was a little surprised to see the Skiddo who had burst into his room when Team Pop had sieged the town.

"What is it?" Greg asked.

"The wanted board's been updated," the young Skiddo said. The few bandit towns he had been to all had some form of a wanted board, almost similar to what guilds used. However, the bandits viewed it with pride and used it for various other things. It was almost like a big trophy cabinet in the middle of town.

"Not interested," Greg replied. Which was true, he had never looked at his bounty as something to be prideful of. It was just a reminder of the crime he had been falsely accused of. Thankfully, his bounty was relatively small, one that only novice Exploration Teams really paid attention to. But he was smart enough to not just stay in the same spot to be ambushed.

"Pancel asked for you personally," the Skiddo pushed. Greg paused. Maybe he actually had found out.

"I'll get my stuff," Greg said. Could he escape the town? Could he just be too paranoid? The Skiddo left and Greg gathered all his stuff into his bag before slinging it on his body. As he left, he hesitated and put one of the special bands on his left foreleg. He'd visit the wanted board, but he'd also be prepared to fight his way out if town if he needed.

The town almost seemed dead as he walked by. Constructions had been going on to repair all the damage the Exploration Team (and Greg) had done to the town. But it was all stopped now. Greg figured that almost everyone had gone to see the wanted board. There were probably numerous amount of townsfolk who'd see there bounties rise as a result of expelling the Exploration Team… not to mention the things that had been done to them.

If Greg really wanted to, he could make a break for it and leave town now… but he wasn't sure how the bandits would react to that. Would they hunt him down? But what if they attacked him at the wanted board? There didn't seem to be a right option. Greg sighed as he continued his way to find the wanted board. It wasn't hard to pin down where it was, as everyone in town already seemed to be there.

Greg was not surprised to see the bandits all together in what looked like disorganized party mode. Most were already drinking despite the early time of the day.

"Greg the Sylveon!" A voice, easily recognizable as Pancel's, rang out. The time it took for the bandits to go eerily silent was unnerving, as it was almost instantaneous. Greg watched as the crowd parted, revealing Pancel standing next to the board. He too had a drink in his hand, but the stoic expression didn't put Greg at ease at all. "Come here."

Greg walked through the parted crowd, seeing that almost none of the bandits' facial expressions betrayed what was going on. He arrived at the board as Pancel gestured to it.

"Find your name," Pancel said. Greg, took a deep breath to steel his nerves as he looked at the board. The amount of pictures were quite astonishing, especially considering this was a localized list. The Exploration Committee's HQ was probably the only place that had a master list of every bandit all across the region. This was probably copied from Chance Town's bandit board and another town's. The last he had checked it had practically been even at P10,000. Considering what had happened, it'd probably be around the 30,000 mark. So he worked his way up from the 10,000s and went all the way to the 30,000s. But he didn't see his name. So he checked the 40,000s. Wasn't there. The 50,000s? Nope.

Greg was thoroughly confused. Where was his name? Had… had Team Pop actually cleared his bounty? He felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

"Having trouble finding your name?" Pancel asked. Greg suddenly remembered where he was. If they had cleared his bounty… he was no longer a bandit. Which meant he was currently surrounded by bandits, in a bandit town, while not being a bandit.

"Y-Yeah, it's not where it usually is. Maybe th-they just missed mine or something," Greg stuttered, glancing around. He was practically surrounded on all sides. He'd definitely have to fight his way out now.

"That's because you're looking in the wrong spot," the Aggron said, causing Greg to pause.

"Wh-What do you mean the wrong spot?" Greg asked. He skimmed the board. Nope, it was all one category. All the bandits were listed by the highest bounty, to the lowest. From an Electivire with a whopping bounty of 4.2 million with a long list of crimes wanted dead or alive, to a Phantump with a bounty of P1,500 for stealing something from a traveler.

"I remember looking up your bounty after you saved us, and you were around here right?" Pancel asked, pointing to around the 10,000s mark.

"Y-Yes," Greg affirmed.

"So you were probably looking around here, but try looking around this spot," Pancel said, pointing a new spot. Greg froze as he scanned it. There, he found that distasteful drawing of a Sylveon. Named Greg. The bounty was-

"P137,000?!" Greg shouted. Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong.

"Congrats! You're part of the hundred thousands now," Pancel congratulated. "Quite the jump if I do say so myself. I only went from P645,000 to P655,000."

No. No, no, no. Greg checked the charges. There was the attempted rape, evasion of arrests, the things he had normally seen. But at the bottom was something new.

"Sabotage of an EC mission of extreme importance?" Greg read aloud. Pancel seemed to nod, almost proudly.

"Yep, it seems they practically pinned the whole thing on you," the Aggron said. That made no sense to Greg. Sure it had been his fault what had ended up happening to them, but he had risked his own skin to _save_ them. And how did they repay that? By increasing his bounty by over a hundred thousand! He'd probably never be able to walk through a normal town again. He'd be hunted down by veteran Exploration Teams now.

"'Grats dude, never figured you were so strong before fighting you," a voice said. Greg turned to see the Scrafty he had fought. Gil or something. Greg realized that this was pretty much the only crowd he could hang around now. Bandits were the only ones who'd talk with him even semi-normally. The realization caused something to… snap inside Greg.

The Scrafty couldn't even get a squeak out as a ribbon coiled around his throat. Greg lifted the Scrafty and then violently slammed him back onto the ground.

"Woah, what was tha-" The Aggron stopped, apparently seeing something off in the Sylveon's eyes. Greg departed, the crowd dispersing out of his way. He left the town, only stopping briefly to get his cloak back on.

Greg was several things. He was a Sylveon. He was a bandit. He had accepted both of these things. He was cynical. He was a pessimist. He was usually calm. He was able to handle pressure quite well. He was a quick thinker. But none of that mattered. None. Why? Because right now he was none of those things. Right now… he was enraged.

 **So short chapter is short. Wish this could be longer, but I'm still tryna figure out what I'm doing tbh. But, we got a little bit of plot, still nothing too major though. And ANGERY GREG IS ANGERY :O**

 **Anyway, I'm going to be working on another story (not a new one at least) so the next update for this might be for a while. But I'm sure I'll have more of an idea how I want to connect plot points by the next time I update. Though, I did actually create a map for this continent. Nothing too fancy mind you, just drew on the back of a paper while at work.**

 **Sorry if you're getting a second update that this story updated but I totally forgot something. I'm starting up my own discord server just for my stories! Though, my dream is to just make it a server for works of fanfiction in general. So like, an upgraded community. But for now, it's just me and my mod so... it's a little bare. If you're interested in joining adding some of your own stuff maybe, just shoot me a pm. All I ask before you get a link, is that you at least follow/favorite just one of my stories. Hopefully I'll get more people soon ;p**


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